


Not As It Appears

by Zaikadis



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magic, More tags to be added, Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Sad Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Trans Male Character, about the characters not the creators
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaikadis/pseuds/Zaikadis
Summary: TW: NightmareI think that's all for this chapter
Comments: 25
Kudos: 185





	1. Chapter 1: A Warning And New People

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Nightmare
> 
> I think that's all for this chapter

_He subconsciously tightened his thin fingers around the strap of his bag, overly aware of the weight on his back as he rolled his shoulders slightly while adjusting the uncomfortable weight, his gaze slowly going up the expanse of the school building in front of him. It was a three story tall building made with dull and unwelcoming dull grey bricks that looked worn by time and weather, several had cracks webbing through them, vaguely resembling the delicate webs that spiders would weave in the window sill of his room. A small frown graced his face upon the thought and he pushed it away as he forced one of his hands to let go of his bag, stretching out his hand before balling it up out of habit, twitching slightly at the phantom pains that laced through his hand and up his arm._

_He let out a slight breath as he grabbed the handle with a gloved hand and pulled the door open and walked in, his body going as stiff as a board upon the onslaught of voices that greeted him due to the large crowd of people mingling in the hall, his shoulders curling in on himself more and lowering to make himself appear smaller when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise with the familiar feeling of eyes locked on him, looking around as he tried to find the culprit but to no avail._

_He quickly scurried down the hall, not paying attention to those around him and more focused on trying to get away from the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, rounding a corner too quickly without paying attention and running right into someone, causing both of them to fall to the floor._

_He hastily got up before somewhat reluctantly holding a hand out to help the other person up who looked baffled as they watched him, yet upon closer inspection he realized that he couldn't see the persons face. In a panic he spun around, he couldn't see anyone's faces causing his breath to catch in his throat as his heart started to race. He stumbled away from everyone, letting out a strangled noise that was clearly inhuman which only caused him to spiral more. The people around him slowly seemed to stalk towards him, leaving him no path to escape._

_"N-no," he choked out as his eyes started to sting with tears, "st-stop, pl-please!" His voice sounded wrong, it didn't sound like english, it made his throat hurt and tingle from the strange noises, yet he could understand exactly what he was saying despite never having heard such a thing. He let out a strangled noise when he felt something touch his shoulder and he tried to scramble away only for whatever it was to grab onto his shoulder, only now noticing the difference in scenery._

_What had once been the crowded halls of a school was now a vast landscape unlike one he had ever seen before, he was standing on the edge of a cliff that overlooked a small meadow of sorts, snow coating the floor and slowly falling from the sky. He hissed in pain when the hold on his shoulder turned into a burning pain, whoever held on having dug their nails in. He could hear a voice speaking, the voice was calm but the hidden malice was clear and caused his heart to drop into his stomach, he knew this voice, he knew it but he had never heard it before but it sounded too familiar._

**_"I've found you, Ranboo."_ **

* * *

Ranboo startled awake, his eyes quickly looking over the desolate room, taking in the desk that held a few notebooks and his old and slightly busted laptop that he used for school, then to the slightly broken office chair that was pushed into it before his eyes briefly paused on the old clock that was on the wall, the moonlight shining through the window lighting the face up just enough to see that the clock was showing it was 2:18 in the morning. He let out a muffled and defeated sob, his head dropping back into his pillow as he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, his head throbbing slightly from the pressure he was putting on his eyes to keep from having a breakdown over only managing to get roughly 25 minutes of sleep, even less than the previous night, cursing whatever nightmare had awoken him this time.

He let out a tired breath as he let his hands fall to either side of him, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes as he did his best to collect himself, clearing his throat slightly. He winced feeling the ache in his throat and swallowed thickly, not reacting when it felt like he was swallowing glass and carefully say up before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and let then lightly rest on the icy cement floor before getting to his legs, ignoring how they trembled from his wight. He bit the inside of his cheek as he started to become painfully aware of the ache that laced through his whole body while slowly walking over to the chair at his desk, sitting down heavily before starting to properly situate himself. He opened his laptop and leaned back in his chair before quickly sitting forward, a pained noise slipping out before he started coughing, one of his arms wrapping around his torso while he used his free arm to cover his cough and try to be as silent as possible so as to not bother anyone else in the house.

His coughing slowly stopped and left him slightly curled in on himself, his body throbbing from pain and he forced himself to watch the screen, focusing on it slowly starting up as he pushed away the familiar feeling of pain, starting to let his thumb rub over the engraved bracelet on his right wrist, a perfect match to the one on his left. They were both made of a dark blackish purple metal material, one that he could never seem to figure out just what it was and they both had the same thing carved into them, but it wasn't anything that he could understand, but the part that stuck out the most to him were the two gem like stones in each of them, one was a pure white, resembling fresh snow and a black like in the middle that reminded him of a cats eye at times that had red seemingly bleeding out of it while the other was an aqua color with the same spot of black but green was blending in with the aqua, starting from the middle.

He felt like he should remember, they both looked so.. familiar. It didn't help that in his memory journal there was a note on the first page, at the bottom of a page that held a smiley face that made fear well up in him and made him want to run, run and never stop.

Ranboo shook his head as if that would clear his thoughts and quickly started to pull up tabs on his school work, having decided to continue on his work since he knew that going back to sleep or at the very least trying to fall back asleep would not be a wise idea. He pulled up his email and paused, seeing two new emails, one from one of his teachers and one from and unknown email which caused his anxiety to spike. He took a deep breath and opened the email from the teacher, biting down on his lip enough to draw blood but he was more focused on figuring out just what he had done wrong to get an email from his teacher.

He quickly skimmed over it, letting out a shaky breath when he realized that he was in fact not in trouble, but that it was just about a group project, briefly touching base on what it was along with the fact that they had given his email to the group of students that he would be working with on the project and that they would be emailing him some time soon which allowed him to connect the unknown email to. He paused upon seeing that his group was being given more time due to both the fact that he was sick and to the fact that he had yet to even be able to go to the school, having been sick when he had gotten enrolled into the school, and that they would be having the TA to help them if they really needed the extra help.

"Sick.. right.." he breathed quietly and rubbed at his sternum subconsciously as he slowly read over the requirements of the project again before going and pulling up the other email, taking note of the discord link that was in it, taking note that the email was from someone named Tubbo and that they were going to use discord for working on the project due to that being the easiest platform that was available to all of the people in the group.

He hesitated before letting out a small breath and clicked on the link, hesitating even more as he glanced at the time while trying to think of an excuse as to why he would be awake at such an early hour before ignoring it and joining the server, looking over the five other accounts that were apart of the server, two showing their status as online causing him to wince slightly at the thought of having to interact with them, especially with having no prior knowledge of anything about them.

* * *

**MemoryBoi just showed up!**

**BrokenTimeMachine:** Hey! Youre the new kid right??

 **MemoryBoi:** yeah

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** Im Karl

 **TheBlade:** Why are you two up at this time?

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** I could ask you the same Techno

 **TheBlade:** Fair

 **TheBlade:** But that still wasn't an answer

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** I wanted to be the first to say hi to the new kid

 **TheBlade:** Go to sleep

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** Not yet

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** I will but now is not the right time

 **TheBlade:** Fine

 **TheBlade:** Go to sleep, kid

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** They already went offline

 **TheBlade:** Good, and Karl, you have an hour before I will make sure you go to sleep

 **BrokenTimeMachine:** Threat acknowledged


	2. Chapter 2: A Small Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a more, uhh, heavy(?) chapter
> 
> TW: Mentioned argument, selfharm(of sorts), mentions of alcohol, mention of cigarettes, abuse

Ranboo yawned and rubbed at his eyes, the exhaustion catching up to him as he tried to continue his work on school projects, his eyes occasionally locking on the discord tab that he had pulled up and had muted the notifications for, having not checked any notification for the past fifteen or so hours that he had been awake. He let out a breath and quickly looked over the project that he had just finished, making sure that it met the requirements before going through the process of turning it in, making sure to save it in the folder he had made for that class in case he would need access to any past assignments.

He started to chew on the side of his thumb as he slowly looked for any other assignments for his classes, doing his best to avoid having to converse with any of the people in the server he had joined, unintentionally biting down harder, leaving a familiar stinging pain in his hand as he continued. He groaned and slumped back in his chair, almost immediately letting out a yelp and hunching forward, his forearms resting on the edge of the desk, applying a small amount of pressure to draw the throbbing pain from his back.

He clenched his jaw, a staggered breath leaving his nose and he pulled up the discord tab, taking note that all of them were in a vc causing him to scrunch up his nose and turned his attention to the chat to see if there was anything important in it.

* * *

**New Messages**

**arsonist:** we working on this after school now that the new kid is here?

**TheBlade:** That's up to all of you, I am merely here as extra help if needed

**BrokenTimeMachine:** Works for me

**TheBlade:** And what about thing one and thing two

**DaBee:** yupp

**BIGMAN:** WE HAVE NAMES DICKWAD

* * *

Ranboo frowned at the messages and hesitated before making sure that his mic wouldn't turn on and joined the vc, briefly taking note of the fact that three of them had their cameras on and that three of them were talking, more like yelling, all at once. He winced and quickly turned down the audio for them, taking note that it was arsonist, DaBee, and BIGMAN that were speaking, the latter two and TheBlade being the ones with their cameras on.

He tried to wait patiently for the three to stop before he decided to just type in chat and ask what he needed to do for his part of the project which was quickly followed with a response from TheBlade. He deafened and relaxed slightly now that he didn't have to listen to the loud bickering and took now to get a good look at the three who had their cameras on.

BIGMAN had short blonde hair and blue eyes that stood out against his tanned skin, it was almost disturbing how bright them were but something in the back of his mind faintly recalled ones that were even brighter, ones that practically glowed. DaBee had fairly short brown hair with close to blonde highlights in it that was a mess and had the slightest curl to it and fairly large brown eyes along with pale skin. TheBlade had long pink hair that was pulled back, it was a shade between baby pink and bright pink, almost a slightly dulled back pink from sunset, his skin looked paper white and his eyes were a pinkish red color.

He tilted his head slightly in thought, trying to recall why he seemed so familiar, the red color of his eyes seemed like something he had seen once but as he continued trying to recall just what it was it slowly made his head start to pound and his thoughts fuzzy, the faint sound of a laugh echoing in the back of his mind, it was loud and sent shivers down his spine that spiked his adrenaline. He shuddered slightly before pushing the thought away, switching to a secondary vc and undeafening before getting to work on his part of the project.

He works in silence, briefly acknowledging when TheBlade joined the vc he was in, his camera now off, and the other four were still in the other vc doing who knows what. He silently went back to work, sending what he finishes into the channel that was set up for it.

He jolts slightly when his room door is slammed open, his head snapping towards it and quickly trying to leave the call while trying to scramble out of his chair and away from his foster father that was now stood in the doorway and had a malodorous smell of alcohol and cigarettes. He ended up knocking his chair over, his back slamming against the floor making him cry out from the pain but it didn't slow him in his attempt to get as far away from the man as he could.

The man glared at him and stormed towards him, roughly grabbing a handful of Ranboo's hair and pulled his head close as he started to yell at him.

Tears were steadily starting to fall down his face, one of his hands holding onto the mans wrist while the other tried to get his hair from his hold, trying to not breakdown as the smell of alcohol was right in his face making his stomach twist with the urge to empty any contents in it, which was nothing at that time and just made it worse. He tried to scramble away which only ended with him getting backhanded and thrown to the floor before the man stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him in the process.

Ranboo curled up tightly, his body trembling violently as he cried, not having the energy to get up off of the floor as he let himself breakdown and cry about everything, gasping on occasion as he did his best to be quiet.

He was unaware of the accidental action he had done, only then being removed from the vc by the person that had heard everything due to a mere misclick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, fun stuff /s
> 
> and I know this chapter is a bit short, I am going to make sure that each chapter is at least 1k but I am aiming for each to be closer to 2k


	3. Chapter 3: A Familiar Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mentioned bruises, slight(?) body horror

Ranboo stared out the window silently, paying no attention to the aching pain in his ribs and his lungs, watching the rain slowly trail down the window, matching the pace of the tears falling down his cheeks. He flinched violently when he heard the front door slam shut, his eyes trailing down to watch his foster father leave before turning and leaving his room and shuffling into the bathroom to get ready for the day, finally in a place where he would be able to go to school in person.

He turned on the water, splashing his face with the cold water and rubbing at the tear tracks before wiping off his face and pulling his hair out of his face, his eyes locking on the familiar reflection. The reflection of his thin and lanky frame was obvious, pained and distrustful dark eyes staring back, he could never figure out just what color they were and he had given up long ago, he was carefully pulling his hair back into a small ponytail, some of the pitch black hair falling back to frame his face. He let his hands rest on the counter as he looked at what was visible of the unwanted marks.

There was a deep purple hand print on the side of his face, the yellowing bruise of when he had been slapped roughly two weeks ago after joining the vc call in the server barely visible due to the different positioning of the hit, there was another bruise on his neck, it was thankfully only a yellowish green bruise. He let his fingers brush over it, twitching slightly from the small amount of pain the action caused.

He checked the time briefly before quickly pulling out the small bag of makeup he had and carefully started working on covering the bruises, making sure that he was using the waterproof ones. He worked quickly before fixing his button up shirt and the slightly heavy jacket he had on, his hand briefly brushing over the outside of the jacket where his journal was tucked away before shaking his head and going back to his room.

He grabbed his bag and half-hazardously swung it onto his back, hissing at the weight that hit his already damaged back, blinking rapidly while pulling on his shoes to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. He huffed and rushed out the door, making sure he had everything he needed on him before locking the door and scampering down the road, switching between jogging and a slow run, ignoring the protest his body was making due to it.

He rounded a corner, accidentally bumping into someone causing them to drop a few books they had been holding, he quickly picked them up and handed it to them, his hand briefly brushing against theirs causing panic to spike in them and they continued to the school, the incident quickly leaving his mind. He was left painfully unaware of the _thing_ watching them race to school.

* * *

_Glowing lime eyes through the dark hollow spots that were where eyes should have once rested, a skeletal frame with twisted manged flesh of the previous form, slowly moving and stitching itself together into its desired form, having gotten the faintest flicker of an old energy, energy that is other worldly._

_Energy similar to its own, but stronger and lighter, matching that of a star rather than its own energy, life force, that felt heavy and thick like warm tar, trapping it down with each use. Slowing it till it is trapped within the non-materialistic confines._

_A loud crack echoed through the room, the once attached head falling off and rolling down its slowly repairing body before eventually coming to a stop, the flesh slowly stretching, morphing, and stitching to look faintly humanoid, gaping holes where the eyes had once been, glowing with the vibrant green color that seemed to so easily light up the small cave like cage that it was trapped in._

_Cracking, popping, and snapping of bones and joints echoed as its body was slowly, for its kind, reanimated with longer and thinner limbs, not all having gotten graced with flesh leaving bones and tendons visible._

_The gangly and spindly being slowly and jerkily got up, picking up its head and putting it in place but it merely floated in the place it should sit._

* * *

Ranboo rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest as he reached the school building, it was three stories tall and made of stone bricks that had been clearly worn and several had cracks webbing through them. His eyebrows furrowed at a sense of familiarity to the situation and shook his head before heading inside, immediately wincing at the onslaught of voices echoing through the corridor. He shuddered slightly and did his best to ignore it and shuffled down the hall, mentally trying to remember his schedule as he turned a corner and ran into someone, one of his hands immediately snapping out and grabbing a handful of the persons brightly colored hoodie that was a mesh of colors that normally wouldn't look that well together but seemed surprisingly nice.

The person stared at him with wide startled brown eyes and messy brown hair, clearly startled by what had happened. He winced slightly and ducked his head, curling in on himself slightly more that he already did and made sure they wouldn't fall over before letting go and quickly signing 'sorry' while taking a few small steps back. The person shook their head and smiled, something briefly flashing through their eyes before they spoke, surprising Ranboo as they also signed along. "It's fine, are you new here? I haven't seen you around before."

He paused and took a moment before signing 'kinda' while doing his best to hide his slowly growing panic at the situation because what if he had knocked them over? Or if he had accidentally rubbed off the makeup covering the bruises? He paled slightly and let out a breath, looking around as he tried to find something on so he could ground himself and failing miserably. He focused on the person who was watching him closely, a thoughtful look in their eyes.

"Where's your first class?" They asked still signing as they spoke.

Ranboo's eyebrows furrowed in thought before he moved his bag so he could pull out his schedule then carefully handed it to them, chewing slightly on his bottom lip as he watched them look over the paper before grinning slightly and motioning for him to follow before they turned and started walking down the hall to the first class that he had listed for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually writing at a reasonable time ever in my life, astounding
> 
> anyways, so things are startingggg


	4. Chapter 4: Unravel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attack, slight self harm

Ranboo quietly followed the person, shifting one of his shoulders slightly as he adjusted his bag on his back, wincing slightly as a book in his bag dug into a particularly bad bruise on his back and quickly readjusted his bag again, almost running into the person, of which he realized he still didn't know their name or pronouns of, when they stopped at a classroom door. They turned to face him and motioned to the classroom silently while holding his schedule out to him.

He hesitated before lowering his head slightly while accepting the paper back and started to head into the classroom only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder causing him to turn to the person who had a look of realization on their face. "I almost forgot to introduce myself, I'm Karl, umm.. he/him...and can you hear?" the person, Karl, asked, adding on the last part as an afterthought.

Ranboo hesitated before nervously signing 'Ranboo he/him I can hear'.

Karl nodded before his eyes widened in realization. "You're MemoryBoi," he said quickly, his hands balling up and shaking slightly as an excited look crossed his face. Ranboo bobbed his head slightly in a sign of confirmation, his eyes glancing to the open classroom door and quickly waved before scampering into the room. He tensed up when eyes immediately locked on him, including those of the teachers.

His breath caught in his throat and a slight ringing filled his ears, his hands slowly starting to tremble despite his attempts to stay calm and focused. The room around his seemed to get further and further away from him and the ringing continued to get louder, getting to the point that to drowned out any other possible sounds. The room started to get blurry and his thoughts all jumbled together, a figure approached him causing him to let out a slightly distressed noise and flinch back, curling in on himself in the process as he attempted to look as small as possible.

The figure paused and seemed to hold up their hands in surrender..?

They were talking, what were they saying?

Why couldn't he hear anything?

_Where was he?_

_He can't hear._

_He can't speak._

_Why can't he **speak**? Why can't he **hear**?_

He flinched when something grabbed his wrist, kicking at whatever it was instinctively and it let go.

_When did he sit down?_

He was trembling violently and flinched when he felt something get draped over his shoulders, it was heavy, why was it heavy? What was touching him?

Ranboo let out a slightly distressed noise, one of his hands grasping at the item to try and figure out what it was, barely starting to get a hold on the situation around him as his hand came in contact with a soft material. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the texture, his hand twitching, he dug his nails into the palm of his hand as he tried to ground himself, flinching and shying away from the sudden contact on the hand not latched onto the material.

His eyes snapped towards what was touching his hand, taking note that it was someone's hand and was slowly working on removing his nails from the palm of his skin, his mind blanking slightly before letting them be able to do so. His hand twitched and he pulled it away from whoever was there, tensing up as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he quickly looked around. The students that had been in the room were gone, the teacher sitting on their knees in front of him, a clearly concerned look in their eyes. There was who seemed to be another teacher hovering slightly behind the one right in front of him while Karl and someone who looked familiar were standing behind him but kept their distance.

He ducked his head and signed 'sorry', his arm trembling.

The teacher offered a kind smile. "You did nothing wrong, do you think that you could stand up? Or do you need a bit more time?"

He didn't even try to respond as he shakily tried to force himself up, his legs trembling and threatening to give out as he managed to get up after a couple minutes of struggling.

The teacher stood up and peered around him towards Karl and the familiar person. "Do you two think you could lead them to the comfort room?"

Karl nodded slightly. "Of course Mr.Halo," he said and gently motioned for Ranboo to follow him as he turned to leave the room.

Ranboo didn't move, clearly hesitant and a dull look was in his eyes that briefly flicked to the familiar person, immediately looking away as his eyes met the persons pinkish red eyes that were clearly locked on him and narrowed slightly upon their eyes briefly meeting.

The person walked over and without any kind of warning picked him causing him to let out a small yelp, both from the sudden action and the pressure on his injuries. He curled up slightly, not saying a word as he paid attention to where they were going, also taking note of the surprised look in Karl's eyes when he saw the predicament that he had been put in.

* * *

Bad stayed where he was as he watched Techno leave the room carrying Ranboo.

He didn't move, not acknowledging the gentle hand that was placed on his shoulder as he still looked towards the door silently. He looked behind him, his eyes meeting Skeppy's which were filled with confusion and concern. He pushed away his thoughts, ones that he was almost certain of, the brief skin contact of him stopping the kid from harming himself having caused.

If he knew then surely the others did.

But his thoughts would not leave him alone as he got ready for his first class, one in particular.

If no one else knew that he was here, then just how long ago had he been taken through?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking longer than i have been for this update, in general updates will be slowing down for a bit
> 
> Also, I am starting to start another cuz I cannot for the life of me focus on one thing at a time


	5. Chapter 5: Comfort Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Disassociation, blood
> 
> I believe that's it for TW

Ranboo winced slightly and curled in on himself as Techno readjusted his hold on him, trailing behind Karl who hadn't looked back to make sure that they were still following him as he easily found a path through the halls that were unknown to Ranboo. He twitched slightly, doing his best to choke back a small whimper when he pushed his back against Techno's arm causing pain to flair through him. He let out a shaky breath and let his eyes shut and rested his temple against his collarbone, subconsciously starting to murmur softly under his breath what seemed to be complete nonsense, his fingers moving to trace over the bracelets on his wrists.

He hissed slightly, his hands twitching violently as what felt like a shock, similar to when someone touches metal after shuffling around on carpet in socks, shot up his arms, settling painfully in his back and chest. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, turning his face into Techno slightly in an unintentional search for comfort. Techno looked down at him briefly before looking up, catching Karl's eyes that were locked on the both of them.

Karl shook his head slightly, a knowing look in his eyes, and he gazed ahead again without saying a word.

The hallway was fairly quiet, the sound of their footsteps being the loudest as it echoed slightly in the now empty halls, the only other sound being Ranboo's occasional incoherent mumble or shaky breath. Karl walked up to what looked like a classroom door and opened it silently, holding the door open for Techno who nodded slightly at him and walked inside, Ranboo unaware of the situation.

Ranboo flinched violently and his eyes snapped open when a loud screech echoed from the far side of the room, instantly causing his heart to race and for him to slowly start to spiral again, all sound around him seemingly growing faint and images getting distant and a bit blurry.

* * *

Techno clenched his jaw, his eyes snapping over to where the screech echoed from, immediately spotting Tommy and Wilbur. Tommy was attempting to snatch back the two CDs in Wilbur's hand who was visibly several inches off of the floor. "Wil," Techno muttered, irritation clear in his voice. The two of them immediately looked over at him, Wilbur paling upon spotting Ranboo in his arms and landing gently on the floor, now less noticeably floating. "You aren't supposed to be here.."

"W-well.." Wilbur stammered slightly and looked around seemingly for an excuse, only now noticing Karl in the room as well, but was interrupted by Tommy. "Whose that?" Techno blinked and ignored them, walking over to the couch and gently setting him down on it, blinking a few times at the glazed over look to his eyes. "Uhhh... somethin's wrong with the kid." Wilbur flickered out of existence from where he was next to Tommy, the discs falling to the floor.

Wilbur appeared right next to Techno, looking over Ranboo's face before waving his hand in front of his eyes, his eyes briefly focusing on his hand before he blinked and went back to staring into space, his eyes still glazed over slightly. He frowned and gently grabbed one of his hands, getting no reaction from him, and carefully tried to check his pulse. His fingers gently brush against the bracelet on Ranboo's wrist causing him to cry out in pain and stumble away, holding his hand close to his chest as he stares wide eyed at him.

Techno had jolted slightly at the noise and moved over to Wilbur, somewhat forcefully grabbing his forearm so he could see what had happened that had prompted such a reaction, inhaling sharply upon seeing what had happened. Wilbur's hand was glitching slightly and translucent, there was a slight blue hue to the skin and a deep blue liquid that resembled blood was on the tips of his fingers.

"Hehh?" Wilbur looked at Techno before looking back at Ranboo, pulling his arm free and hesitantly moving towards him again, thinking for a moment before lightly placing his fingers, of his uninjured hand, on the pulse point just below Ranboo's jaw, counting silently as he waited and nervously looking at the bracelets while making sure to stay as far from them as he could while seeming normal for the expectations of those within the current land.

He relaxed slightly and moved away, mumbling something about his heart rate being a bit too fast before shaking his head. "The bracelet, something is wrong with it." The other three present, and currently aware of what was happening, glanced at Ranboo before looking at Wilbur.

Techno frowned and walked over, grabbing Ranboo's hand and turning it around as he inspected the bracelet, his eyes narrowing. "It's got enchants.. few even I've never seen before," he muttered, pausing for just a second before brushing his thumb over it, taking in a deep breath and letting go immediately and backing up.

"Tommy." Tommy looked at Techno upon hearing his name and the tone. "You're the only on present that would be able to look at it properly." He blinked before scowling and hissing, "I ain't gon' be no fuckin' guinea pig."

Techno glared at him slightly. "Tommy."

"Okay, okay, okay," he said and wandered over, poking the bracelet and blinking a few times when nothing happened before picking up Ranboo's arm and looking over the bracelet.

"Can you try removing it?" Wilbur asked, hovering over Tommy's shoulder as he watched, getting a shrug in response as Tommy tried to find a way to remove the bracelet while looking it over before pausing.

"Tommy?"

"Th-there's no bend.."

"Pardon?"

"It's practically welded on, there's no bend, it's fuckin' solid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has nothing to do with this story, but uh, Tommy's stream huh?
> 
> edit: I forgot to add this before posting, whoops, anyways, this might be on a pause for a week or two depending on how things go, I've got some projects to work on n' stuff


	6. Chapter 6: Realizations And Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: torture of sorts, body horror

"What do you mean it's solid.."

"Exactly what I said fuckwad," Tommy hissed while spinning the bracelet around and looking closely at the enchantments inscribed in the metal, occasionally yanking slightly on the bracelet in an attempt to try and somehow open it and remove it from Ranboo's wrist. He letter out an irritated breath and let go, moving away from him and glaring slightly at the offending band.

Techno muttered something to himself before pausing and looking at Karl. "Phil might know, get Phil."

Karl nodded and booked it out of the room without another word.

Techno started pacing before walking to the far side of the room and grabbing a pencil along with a pad of paper before crouching in front of Ranboo, grabbing his hand and moving it around so he could get a better look at the band, starting to copy down the symbols onto the paper silently, muttering quietly every few seconds as he worked.

"Why me."

Techno paused briefly, not answering the unsaid question and continued writing. Wilbur hovered over Ranboo's head, watching Techno write down the enchants, a thoughtful look on his face as he stayed where he was.

"Hey, dickhead, wh-"

"Because if you do happen to have a connection with magic it is not what is keeping you alive and how you look, now leave me alone," Techno grunted while shifting how he was, not allowing Tommy to finish asking his question, irritation clear in his voice and the way he held himself.

There was a brief knock on the door, Wilbur vanishing and reappearing sitting on the back of the couch near Ranboo and looked over just as Karl walked in with Phil close behind him, visibly taking in the situation to the best of his ability and almost immediately walking over to Techno, his eyes briefly locked on Ranboo.

"What's going on mate?" Techno didn't respond, merely holding out the pad of paper for him, which he accepted and silently looked over. A look of concentration clear on his face as he read over the copied enchants, tensing up upon reading something on the paper, his hold tightening and unintentionally crumpling the paper, an almost suffocatingly powerful aura rolling off of him in waves causing all but techno and Ranboo to move away from the man slightly.

"Phil?" Techno asked, a hint of hesitation in his voice, easily portraying the perilous situation to those who knew of his normally indifferent actions. He didn't respond and quickly, yet extremely gently, grabbed Ranboo's forearm and carefully inspected the bracelet, fury clear in his eyes upon briefly spotting the identical bracelet on his other wrist.

"Damnit," he hissed upon seeing just how the bracelet was made, clenching his jaw and frowning deeply, still not letting go of his forearm. He gently set his arm down, briefly waving a hand in front of Ranboo's face, concern briefly covering his face upon there being no reaction and shook his head slightly.

"Get to know him, keep him safe."

Techno watched Phil, a questioning look in his eyes before realization crossed his face and he looked at Karl who had a slightly guilty look on his face. "Hehh?"

Karl ducked his head slightly, not looking at any of them. "Phil, he doesn't know.."

Phil glanced at him briefly, nodding slightly, a conflicted look on his face before he sighed. "Keep an eye on him but don't draw any attention to him, he'll need time.. a lot of time... and a lot of help."

"Phil. What is the cuff?"

He clenched his jaw. "If he was even somewhat aware of what those cuffs are there for then he would be in pure hell."

Concern briefly flickered across Techno's features as Phil turned and left the room without another word, leaving them in the room and left to their own thoughts.

* * *

_Agony, that was the only way to explain the experience, feeling your flesh getting torn apart only for it to stitch itself back together, heart aching as it tries to jump start itself, not allowing your body to give up and succumb to the eternal darkness of the void that some experience upon death. Body glitching, getting yanked and stretched this way and that, molecules attempting to break apart only to reform in the same pattern, occasionally not managing to reform correctly leaving it to try different formations as it tries to put itself back together._

_An agonized screech ripped from his throat, the sound horribly distorted along with his body, long thin limbs littered in bruises, burns, scars, and open wounds that send blood trailing down his split skin, tears falling from his eyes and leaving a sizzling noise in the air along with the smell of burning flesh, blood mixing in with the rivers of tears leaving behind deep scars on his cheeks, the scars worse on the darkened skin that resembled the night sky without stars rather than that of pure snow._

_He sobbed loudly, his bones breaking and grinding together as his body tried to force it to the image of which it wished, trying to force back his true form, the form which showed just who he was and rang with the power trapped within his being, a power that could corrupt should it not be kept in check._

_His tail lashed behind him, the split colored skin just as damaged as the rest, the tuft of fur matted with blood and missing small chunks of fur. He screamed louder, curling in on himself as his bones shifted around more, some moving back to their correct spots, others breaking and grinding together as they moved about, none yet piercing through his skin._

_He choked out a sob as his back arched painfully, bones that didn't belong to those of a human, which he wasn't ever, twisting, grinding, and moving about, forcing the skin to stretch as something tried to break through the flesh but unable to do so as the skin just restitched itself back together quicker that it could try to break free._

_His clawed hands scratch and dig at his chest, right where a human's heart would be, his claws making a soft clicking noise as they came in contact with what would be his heart, an orb residing in its place, blues and greens and purples swirling like a beautiful storm inside of it, a glimpse of gold and red occasionally visible as well._

_A pained scream reverberated through the darkened void, no one there to help or to even hear, even the boy unaware of the torment himself._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Salutations!  
> I am back for a bit, had a change in my plans so yayy, uhh...
> 
> anyways, if anyone has any questions about this story please feel free to ask questions in the comments, also I should hopefully be getting the first chapter of a new story up within the next few hours or sometime tomorrow if anyone is interested


	7. Chapter 7: Aware And Lured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: none that I'm aware of
> 
> Alternate title for this chapter, The Greenhouse part 1

Ranboo twitched slightly as he started to become aware of his surroundings again, exhaustion washing over him causing him to yawn, moving one of his hands to rub at his eye, the movement sluggish and clearly difficult to manage. He blinked a few times, only now taking notice that he was laying down on a surprisingly comfortable couch and in a room that he didn't remember.

The room was fairly large with the walls being a soft blue color and the floor being a cream colored carpet that looked extremely soft, the room was partially sectioned into different areas, there was a corner with bookshelves and piles of beanbags, blankets, and pillows about. Ranboo was on one of the three couches near the corner with the bookshelves, there were four chairs there as well, the third corner had several desks clearly set up for doing work which also had a door that was shut, likely the door that lead into the school, and in the last corner had various plants and a few random pillows on the floor, a door open to what seemed to be outside.

He carefully started to sit up, only then taking note of the cloak that was draped over him, faintly remembering something being draped around him earlier but he couldn't recall why it had been. It was made of a soft crimson fabric that almost was a mix between silk, fur, and velvet, having the same smoothness of silk yet a softness that resembled a pelt. He gently rubbed the fabric between his fingers before starting to fiddle with a piece of the long soft white fur that was around the top of the cloak, a small 'vwoop' unintentionally leaving his mouth, having not realized he had managed to make such a strange and inhuman sound.

He took in a deep and shaky breath, his eyes flickering over to the open door frequently with an urge to explore just what was beyond the door as he continued fiddling with the cloak, after a moment he sighed softly and gently folded the cloak before setting it on the couch and carefully stood up, grimacing as his head started to pound and his vision swam, a few black spots filling his vision and his legs trembled upon trying to hold his body up. He stayed there, knowing that if he were to move his legs would give out and he would collapse to the floor.

After waiting for his vision to clear and his head to stop pounding as painfully he slowly made his way towards the door, something in the back of his mind seemingly calling to him, luring him towards the door and he simply couldn't resist the urge. It was a familiar feeling but he couldn't quite recall why, it made his thoughts blur together and a tingling feeling to go up his spine and through his hands, almost like a condensed adrenaline rush.

He paused in the doorway, gasping slightly before passing the threshold between the two, completely unaware of the shudder that forced its way down his spine along with the consequences of his actions.

The room looked like a greenhouse, the air was slightly humid and there were several plants all around the room, so many that caused those inside to be unable to look through the glass walls of the room, only able to see and feel the sunlight streaming in through the ceiling which in itself is a tad odd due to it being fall and clouds often blocking out the sun within the town that he lived in, but that information didn't seem to click in his head as he walked around, his footsteps silent upon the stone bricks of the path.

He blinked a few times and stepped off of the path when he heard trickling water, following the sound and pausing upon spotting the small pond that had a few koi fish in it along with some waterlilys and lily pads floating upon the water. A small smile graced his face and he moved to sit near the small pond and watching the fish, his shoulders relaxing and he started to hum softly, embracing the calm and peaceful environment for once.

He tilted his head back, letting the sun shine on his face as he let himself just exist in the moment, forgetting about the past and ignoring what could possibly happen in the future so he could just exist in the present, for once existing in the moment of peace instead of having to think about the next problem to solve or avoid.

He let out a slightly broken laugh, his head dropping forwards and he watched the pond again, harshly wiping at his eyes that he hadn't noticed had started to water till then. "G-get a hold of yourself, you can't keep doing this," he muttered quietly, his voice strained and, to him, disgustingly high pitched. He shook his head and balled up his hands, his nails digging into the soft skin of his palms, getting close to breaking the skin before the same almost luring feeling washed over him.

His eyebrows furrowed and he looked around before carefully getting up again, turning away from the pond and making his way back to the path, having turned away just as the water rippled from something not visible to the eye of normal beings, a gaze watching his form move away and back on path, moving out of reach.

Ranboo pushed his hands in his pockets and continued along the path, silently looking at the various plants that he could vaguely recall, most being ones that he had seen at least once in his life, a few being ones that he had never seen but none held his attention. He hummed slightly and looked ahead, pausing upon seeing what could possibly be some kind of plant up ahead, but it wasn't like anything he had ever seen before.

It was planted in a fairly large pot with what could only be described as yellowish cream stone in the bottom, it was a type of stone that he couldn't remember ever seeing before but it looked so familiar and made his heart cry out for a place he didn't remember. It grew what looked like a purple barked branch that was as thick as his arm with white branching trails on it, something in his mind screamed that this was small, that it should be larger, there were what seemed like purple fruits growing off of it, a majority of them being roughly the size of a softball.

"Hello?" He jumped when the calm, soft, and unknown voice called from behind him, quickly turning around to see who had spoken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger, anyways, two things
> 
> One, would people be interested in me possibly rewriting this with some more detail, and i mean the whole story? I would end up doing it once the story is finished and leave this one as it is while making a new book for the properly edited one n stuff
> 
> Two, I might start putting random stuff in the notes at the end of chapters just for the heck of it out of pure boredom, maybe I'll add some small spoilers or even some headcannons I have for some of the DSMP characters


	8. Chapter 8: Familiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Flashback(?), reference to a bad home life(don't know how to explain it)

Ranboo stared at the person there, shifting his gaze slightly so as not to make eye contact, the person standing there had short pink hair, barely reaching her shoulders with a kind and curious look in her soft hazel eyes. He offered a small wave towards her, curling in on himself instinctually. Something flashed through her eyes as she watched him, keeping her hands down and by her sides but constantly within sight, her palms slightly angled forwards to show that she held nothing.

"Are you new? I don't recall seeing you before.. I'm Niki," they spoke softly and calmly, pausing a decent distance away from him while clearly watching his reactions, but it was clear it was out of worry and concern rather than looking for a weakness to be found and used against him.

He nodded slightly, quickly signing 'Ranboo' which caused confusion to flicker across her face, clearly not understanding what he had signed. He chewed on his bottom lip in thought before reaching into his pockets and managing to find a piece of folded up paper and a pen, quickly scribbling down his name on it before showing the paper to Niki. She looked over the note and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Ranboo." He offered a small smile before glancing back at the strange plant, tilting his head to the side slightly as he silently examined it.

"It's called a chorus plant," Niki murmured, now standing next to him, startling him enough to cause him to jump and almost trip over his own feet and for Niki to giggle slightly and walk over to the plant then pull off one of the purple fruits and held it out to him, "and this is a chorus fruit, it's a bland name but it doesn't match the taste." He stared at the offered fruit before carefully accepting it, looking over the odd fruit before hesitantly taking a bite.

It was surprisingly sweet with a strange and inexplicable aftertaste that made it almost seem addictive and held a significant amount of juice, the outer skin was slightly rough while the inside was easily squished. He hummed happily and continued eating the fruit, a small smile on his face as he relaxed, almost forgetting about the world around him.

Niki watched Ranboo, taking note of how the color of his eyes seemed to flicker slightly along with the fact that his pupil seemed to shrink in an inhuman manner, a manner of which is specific to those not of that realm, not of that plane of existence. She looked away, turning her attention to the chorus plant, carefully pulling off the ripe fruits and setting them in the pot that the plant was growing within while keeping track of Ranboo, such a familiar yet distant and faded presence that reminded her one one she lost long ago.

Ranboo finished the fruit after a bit, making a clicking noise followed by a whistle that caused him to blush and quickly cover his mouth with his hands, embarrassment welling up within his being which almost immediately started to turn to confusion and slight amusement as Niki repeated the same sounds as him, only hers being higher pitched and a bit softer, almost as if she were used to mimicking those kinds of sounds daily.

He watched her as she looked at him and offered a small smile which he couldn't help but smile back, something in the back of his thoughts screaming at him, screaming at him to remember.

* * *

_The two sat on top of the solid purple bricks that were the roof of the tall staggered building that had it not been a practice that had taken a millennia would not have ever been able to stand. The two children were curled up against each other, their attention on the void of darkness that was the sky, having a tinge of purple to it to show that it was morning rather than night, but those not accustomed to that realm, one that had been deemed one of eternal night, would have never known._

_One of the children had light brown hair with a few prominent strands of soft pink hair, the rest having a pink hue to it shuffled slightly closer to the other, a thin ring of red around their pupil that blended slightly out into the green of the rest of their eyes, they couldn't have been older than twelve. The other was lost within their mind, their hair as white as snow with the roots on half of their head getting slightly darker, one eye a bright red resembling the lava of the fire realm and the other a vibrant green resembling that of the lush plants of the overworld, they couldn't have been older than six._

_"Niki..?" the second child mumbled quietly causing the older one to hum slightly and look at them, a frown crossing Niki's face as she looked at the younger, quickly wiping away the tears that were starting to slip from the youngers eyes, not being quick enough to keep a slight sizzling sound from the air as the tears met the youngers skin._

_"Wh-why does momma yell at me.." they sniffled, their legs curling up against their chest and their tails curling against their body. Niki frowned and gently combed her fingers through their long hair in attempt to soothe the younger._

_"I.. I don't know, An.." She mumbled softly, pushing the truth from her mind, the younger sniffled slightly and pressed themself closer to her, their body trembling slightly as they fought to stay silent. Niki pulled them into a hug, resting her chin on their shoulder and gently rubbed their back, her hand twitching slightly as she did so, staring at the house in the distance that the two would eventually have to return to, the hell of a home that they had._

_"I love you An.." She murmured softly, "You know that right..?"_

_The younger nodded, their face pressed against her shoulder and their clawed hands grasped onto the back of her shirt._

_"I-i love you too sis.."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially thefting this part for random stuff, if there's anything important that I need to say it will be at the top and labeled as so
> 
> yes, that is how I feel like a chorus fruit would be like, and yes I could have gone more in depth but I didn't want to at that moment
> 
> okay, so headcannon I have that will play a part later if anyone is curious, but taking the fact that when die they drop an enderpearl, which I think of as their heart, but basically if the pearl hasn't been used and is still intact then that enderman isn't considered dead yet and for the hybrids that have a pearl as long as the pearl is still in their chest then they can't exactly die
> 
> also I was a little less than halfway through the chapter when one of my earbuds had died so that was kinda funny(thankfully the other was charging at that time and had just finished)


End file.
